ISIS burns alive Jordanian pilot it kept hostage

The Islamic State has released a video, purportedly showing Moath al-Kasasbeh, the Jordanian pilot captured in December, being burned alive. The Jordanian government had pleaded with IS to release the hostage in exchange for a captured terrorist.

A member of al-Kasasbeh's family has been informed by the head of
the Jordanian armed forces that he has been killed, Reuters
reported. According to national television, Jordan now believes
he was executed as far back as January 3, exactly one month ago,
though the government has refused to directly confirm the news to
Western news agencies.

The video itself, which was posted on social media, but is not
being shared by RT for ethical reasons, appears to have been a
carefully staged production, shot from several angles, and sound
tracked with religious hymns. It shows al-Kasasbeh being led out
into a square in front of a squadron of masked men, before being
placed in a cage. A rope lying outside the cage is then lit up,
and the hostage is engulfed in flames. The execution is in
contrast with the customary beheadings, practiced by the Islamic
State (IS, formerly ISIS).

Al-Kasasbeh was captured after his plane crashed over an
IS-controlled part of Syria, following a bombing mission on
December 24. The US-led air strikes in the region since September
have helped stem IS expansion through Syria and Iraq.

In the past few weeks, Al-Kasasbeh and two Japanese captives have
been part of failed negotiations between the Islamic State and
Japanese and Jordanian governments.

The Islamic State had first demanded $200 million then the
release of Sajida al-Rishawi, a female Iraqi Al-Qaeda militant,
who is imprisoned in Iran, in exchange for the release of
journalist Kenji Goto, and security expert Haruna Yukawa.

Jordan had agreed to let al-Rishawi go, but only if al-Kasasbeh
was included in the deal. But by then, he may have already been
dead, and the Islamic State simply executed its Japanese hostages
without receiving their ransom.

Washington, which is a close ally of Jordan, has condemned the
killing of al-Kasasbeh, who was flying a US-made F-16, when he
either crashed, or was shot down.

"Whatever ideology they [IS] is operating off of, it's
bankrupt," President Barack Obama told the media in
Washington, saying the video showcased the "viciousness and
barbarity" of the fundamentalist group.

"The United States strongly condemns ISIL's actions and we
call for the immediate release of all those held captive by
ISIL," said a statement from White House spokeswoman
Bernadette Meehan, using another acronym for Islamic State.

The Administration has requested $8.8 billion in its 2016 budget
to fight the Islamic State.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also denounced the murder of
al-Kasasbeh. “The Secretary General condemns the killing
of...al-Kasasbeh by Daesh (Islamic State), a terrorist
organization with no regard for human life,” the UN press
office said in a statement. Ban Ki-moon also called on “all
governments to strengthen their efforts to combat the scourge of
terrorism and extremism within the bounds of their human rights
obligations.”

Moreover, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed deep anger
over the incident, referring to it as an “outrageous”
killing. Abe said on Wednesday that he offered his condolences to
Jordan and had plans to increase the nation’s humanitarian
support in the region.